About Me

I originally started this blog as a place to store tried and true recipes for my family. It didn't take long to discover how supportive and fun the blog community was and I became hooked! I rarely create my own recipes, but I still hope you'll enjoy the recipes that I find and tweak a bit.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Salsa Verde Chicken and Dumplings

First of all, a very belated thank you for all the sweet comments about our upcoming move this June. In all honesty, I'm experiencing a bit of denial. As excited as I am to go, I'm also sad to leave a place that I'm just now becoming comfortable in. We've been really lucky to meet some awesome people in New Jersey, not to mention how great it is having NYC so dang close. But, life is an adventure and I'm ready to soak in all that California has to offer.

And even though I haven't started buying boxes or searching for apartments, I have become painfully aware of how much food I really don't want to move across the country, or throw away. Once again it's a race against the clock to eat all of the random freezer and pantry items that I tend to collect. And for some unexplainable reason, I'd managed to accumulate about five big jars of salsa verde. Every time I go to Trader Joe's I have to buy some, even if I'm already drowning in it. It's a compulsion.

So I was very excited to find this recipe at Kevin and Amanda's site. And let me tell you, chicken and dumplings do not get better than this. So creamy, with big chunks of chicken and soft fluffy dumplings, it's as close to wrapping yourself in a warm blanket as it gets. The salsa verde adds a great twist, giving it just a big of tang, and a delicious flavor. My only regret was not adding more veggies in it. Next time I'll definitely be adding handfuls of carrots, celery and peppers for more nutrition and color.

1. Sauce: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Melt butter
over medium-high heat in a large oven-proof skillet. Whisk in the flour
to make a paste. Add broth, salsa verde, and evaporated milk (or half
and half) and whisk vigorously until thick and bubbly. Stir in chicken
and turn heat to low to keep warm.

2. Cornbread: Meanwhile, heat milk and butter in a
small saucepan until melted and steamy. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking
powder, salt, and scallions in a separate bowl with a fork. Pour in milk
mixture and stir to form a dough. Drop spoonfuls of dough into the
skillet with chicken mixture.

3. Transfer skillet to oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20
minutes, until cornbread is cooked through, and the edges are crisp and
golden brown.

Moving across the country - you do have a big adventure ahead, Teresa. Chicken and dumpling is one of our favorite meals and I love this twist on the traditional recipe. I need to work on using what's in my cupboards too.

Wishing you luck with your move. Our move many years ago to Florida went quite smoothly, but my most recent move (after 40 years at one address) was the stuff of nightmares. Kids are an enormous help in making new friends...you'll do well. Keep us posted.Great idea for using up your pantry items!